Father (Challenge No.02 winner)

Fortune, November 24, 2012; 14:26 / FB 6965
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FATHER
(for Takenoko's challenge)

>The winds of the cold time whip around you.
>You can handle it.
>You have before.
>Sure, nummies are hard to find and what little you can scrounge is likely to be fought over by greedy Fluffies in the herd, but you can survive.
>If you know what you're doing of course.
>Some of the few remaining green things have berries on them.
>They're hard to chew and are always cold, but they're better than nothing.
>Grassies can sometimes be found too, but they're rare.
>Some of the desperate ones resort to begging the hoomans for nummies.
>Sometimes they get it, but other times...
>It may be hard, but Fluffies somehow are more likely to survive if they do it themselves.
>Your Daddy taught you that.
>He was biggest, toughest Fluffy you had ever seen.
>No other Fluffy in the herd could stand up to him.
>No other one wanted to.
>His body was covered in scratches and owies from all the fights he had gotten into protecting the herd.
>He was the Smarty of the herd, not because he wanted to be, but because he had to be.
>He was the one who had to make the hard choices that many Fluffies didn't like, but they never said it to his face.
>They were afraid of him, but they didn't need to be.
>Because when he wasn't being the "Smarty", he was just Daddy.
>And he loved you.
>You were the only baby to survive.
>Mama, bruddas and sissies all took long sleepies because you were all born shortly after the start of the white time.
>This was also before Daddy became Smarty.
>He was just a Toughie back then.
>In fact, he became Smarty because you were born.
>You can't really remember it.
>You were very little back then.
>You were just snuggling in your mama's Fluff, having just finished drinking milkies.
>You couldn't see yet, but you knew that Daddy was also nearby, maybe hugging one of your bruddas or sissies.
>That was when you heard a loud noise.
>"WAT DIS!?" a scary voice shouted.
>It was the Smarty of the herd.
>He was scary!
>You started crying and made bad peepees on mama.
>Your bruddas and sissies began crying too.
>Mama did her best to calm you all, but she was scared too.
>"Wha yu wan?" Daddy said.
>The Smarty then hit Daddy on his nosie.
>"Dummy Fwuffy! Cowd timez iz hewe! Nu time fo' Babbehs! No' nuf nummies fo' west o' hewd! Mummahs nee' mo' nummies fo' miwkies! Babbehs den tak' wong sweepies 'n' Mummah be sad! Nu time fo' Babbehs!"
>"Dun cawe!" said Daddy "Nu nee' dat much nummies. Speciaw fwiend kin hav' nummies fo' Babbehs."
>"Nu! Yu toughie! Toughie nee' be stwong ta face munstas! Nu nee' nudda Mummah 'n' mo' Babbehs!"
>That's when the Smarty took one of your bruddas out of his hoovsies.
>"Babbehs tak' wong sweep anyways." he said placing your crying and mewing sibling under his hoovsie "Tak cawe o' it nao 'stead of watah."
>And he stepped on your sibling's head!
>The crying stopped for him, but mama just cried harder.
>She dropped you and your other siblings and rushed over to hug your brudda who was now taking long sleepies.
>"Nuuuu! Babbeh! Nu tak wong sweepies!" she cried.
>The Smarty didn't care.
>"Wuz gon tak' wong sweepies anyway nu matta wha. Dis fasta!"
>Daddy was angry.
>"Nu huwt Babbehs!" he growled.
>"Shaddup!" the Smarty bellowed "Yu Toughie! Am Smawty! Toughie wisten ta Smawty!"
>"Yu nu Smawty! Yu Dummy!" Daddy growled.
>The Smarty smacked him across his nosie.
>"Dun wan huwt yu. Yu gud Toughie. Yu gud fo' hewd. Dum Mummah 'n' Babbehs no'."
>He stamped his hoovsies and some other Toughies came from behind him.
>He pointed at Daddy.
>"Keep Toughie dere. Jes be minit."
>The Toughies piled ontop of Daddy.
>"Sowwy, bu' Smawty say so." one of them said "Nu wan ta, bu' Smawty say..."
>"Say sam' if yo' Babbehs!?" Daddy said.
>"Dun wisten ta Dummy Toughie!" barked the Smarty "Jes howd. Be don' soo'."
>Mama was still crying.
>The Smarty didn't listen and just went over to where you and your other siblings were lying.
>You were all crying and mewing.
>"So sowwy Babbehs." the Smarty said "Dun wan ta, bu' nee' be don'. Shouwda been bown in gween timez."
>He stepped on each of your siblings, reducing them all to boo-boo juice.
>Daddy struggled harder, but all the other Toughies held him down.
>"Stawp huwtin' Babbehs!" he shouted.
>"Cawm dow', dere won mo'." said the Smarty.
>"NUUUU! NO' WAST BABBEH!" Mama cried and ran up and grabbed you.
>She hugged you tight.
>"Dun huwt wast Babbeh." she cried, giving your mane a lick.
>"Pu' Babbeh dow'." ordered the Smarty "Babbehs nu gud fo' cowd timez. Bu' nee Mummahs fo' gween timez."
>"NUU! Wan Babbeh nao!"
>"Nu huwt Speciaw Fwiend!" screamed Daddy.
>"Wast chance. Pu' Babbeh dow'." said the Smarty "Iz betta dis way. Tak' wong sweepies watah. Yu cwy den. Yu cwy hawda den. Betta nao."
>The Smarty reached forward to grab you from Mamas hoovsies.
>That's when Daddy really, really, really got angry.
>"NU! HUWT! BABBEH!" he shouted and he threw the other Toughies off him.
>He ran up and headbutted the Smarty.
>"Dummy Fwuffy!" shouted the Smarty "Iz bes' fo' hewd! No' nuf nummies fo' Mummah 'n' Babbehs in cowd timez! Yu kno' dis!"
>"Dun cawe! Iz mah Babbeh! Iz wast Babbeh!" snarled Daddy "No' gon wet dummy Smawty huwt wast Babbeh!"
>And the fight began.
>Daddy smacked the Smarty across his nosie, but the Smarty bit Daddy's leggie.
>"Dun huwt Smawty!" he shouted "Yu gon tak' wong sweepies nao! Den yu see Babbehs 'gain!"
>Mama hugged you tighter as you just cried and cried.
>"Shh, iz 'k' Babbeh. Daddeh tak' cawe o' meanie Fwuffy." she cooed.
>Some of the other Toughies tried to come up and help the Smarty, but he shooed them away.
>"Nu! Dis tween Smawty 'n' Dummy! Nu Toughies!" he said as he kicked Daddy's leggie.
>Daddy responded by biting the Smarty's ear.
>"Nu nee' dese if neva wisten!" he said as he tore it off.
>"STOOPID DUMMY FWUFFY!" shouted the Smarty and he threw Daddy onto the ground and started hitting his face.
>Boo-boo juice sprayed everywhere.
>Mama just held you tighter.
>Or so she would have liked.
>As Daddy was being hit repeatedly by the Smarty, one of the Toughies came up and took you from mama's hoovsies.
>"NU! BABBEH!" Mama cried "GIF BAK WAST BABBEH!"
>"Gon hewp Smawty. Gon tak cawe o' wast dum Babbeh!" the Toughie said as he put on the cold ground "Say 'nigh-nigh' Babbeh!"
>"NUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Mama screamed and she dove under and pushed you out of the way.
>Just as the Toughie's hoovsie came down hard on her head.
>"S-sav'd...B-babbeh..." she gurgled out before she took long sleepies as well.
>Daddy looked over, his face covered in bruises and boo-boo juice and saw you crying on the ground and mama taking long sleepies.
>If he was angry before...
>The Smarty's hoovsie was about to come down one more time, but Daddy just grabbed it in his mouth and twisted.
>A breaking sound was heard.
>"AHHHHHH! WEGGIE OWIES!" screamed the Smarty "WEGGIE NU WOWK!"
>Daddy jumped up from his back and headbutted the Smarty to the ground.
>He then rushed over and headbutted the Toughie who made mama take long sleepies.
>"DUN HUWT MAH BABBEH!" he shouted and stomped the Toughie's head in.
>The other Toughies were really scared now.
>The Smarty was still crying on the ground about his broken leggie.
>Daddy walked up to him.
>"P-pwease..." sobbed the Smarty "Nu mo' owies. Can hav' Babbeh. No' gon botha 'gain."
>"Dun cawe." Daddy said, neither angry, sad or happy "Dummy Smawty huwt famiwy. Dummy Smawty mak' Babbehs tak' wong sweepies jes cuz iz cowd timez. Cuz o' Dummy Smawty, Speciaw fwiend tak' wong sweepies too. Iz yu who gon say 'Hewwo' ta Babbehs, bu' fwom Wawm pwace!"
>And it was over quickly.
>The former Smarty was nothing more than boo-boo juice when Daddy was done.
>The other Toughies were shaking as Daddy walked over and picked you up and placed you on his back.
>"Yu." he said pointing a boo-boo juice covered hoovsie at one of the Toughies "Fin' odda Mummah. Babbeh nee' miwkies. Am boy Fwuffy, nu can gif. Fin' Mummah."
>"Y-yez Smawty!" the shaking Toughie said and he ran off.
>The others straightened up as Daddy walked in front of them.
>You just curled up in Daddy's fluff.
>"West o' yu, cwean dis up. Pu' Babbehs 'n' Speciaw fwiend ova dere." he pointed at a small hole in a tree "'N' pu' dummy Smawty whewe munstas can fin', bu' no' whewe dey fin' Fwuffies."
>And Daddy walked away to leave the other Toughies to do their work.
>It was just you and Daddy now.
>Although you got milkies from other mamas, you got all the love you could need from Daddy.
>Daddy was the one who hugged you and said "Wuv yu".
>And it was to Daddy that you said "Wuv yu!" back to.
>Daddy taught you all that he knew.
>Daddy taught you to stay away from munstas, fluffy, furry, and hooman.
>"Dey nu fwiends." he said as you looked out at some hoomans "Some awe. Bu' no' aww. 'N' iz hawd ta teww. Nice wookin' hooman may be munsta 'n' scawy wookin' one may be nice. Nu can teww. Nu go fo' nummies."
>Daddy also told you which nummies were good.
>The blue berries were the best, but you shouldn't eat the red ones.
>"Nu eat wed bewwies." he said "Git tummah owies, mak' sick wawas 'n' tak' wong sweepies. Iz nu gud wong sweepies ta hav. Neva eat wed bewwies."
>The purple ones he said were trickier.
>"Onwy eat if odda Fwuffy haz 'n' no' mak sicky wawas."
>"Bu' who?" you asked.
>"Iz hawd choice." he said "Neva kno' if Fwuffy picked fin' good nummies o' fin bad nummies. Hawd ta do, bu' mus' be don'. Dat wha bein' Smawty mean."
>He looked off into the distance.
>"Sometimez, Smawty haz ta do bad tings fo' gud o' hewd." he said hollowly "Undastan' nao. Stiww no' wigh', bu' undastan'..."
>You didn't know what he meant by that at first, but later on you did.
>And it was because of Daddy that you made it through the cold time.
>But he couldn't be there for all of it.
>It was still very cold when you left your safe burrow.
>You wanted to play, but there were no other Fluffies like you around.
>All the other Fluffies were grown, you were the only baby in the herd.
>You weren't quite still a baby, you didn't need milkies anymore, but you weren't a big Fluffy either.
>So while Daddy was still sleeping, you got up and went out.
>White stuff was all over the ground, so you went back and ate a few of the good berries you and Daddy had saved up.
>There weren't a lot, so you were careful about much you ate.
>You weren't going to find grassies easily and where you were there was mostly purple berries.
>Had to be careful and remember what Daddy told you.
>That was the only way you, Daddy, and the herd were going to get through the cold times and make it to the green times.
>So after making sure your tummy didn't have too many owies and that there were enough berries for Daddy and both of you later, you left to go play.
>You made sure to try and remember where the burrow was.
>You didn't want to get lost, but you wanted to go play!
>You didn't count on meeting the Woof-Woof Munsta [wolf].
>You were just walking and skipping, singing your Fluffy songs.
>"Wuv aww da Babbehs, wuv aww da nummies, wuv ta pway, dat wha a Fwuffy doez! Yez it iz! Dat wha a Fwuffy doez!" you sang happily as you kicked white stuff all around.
>It was fun!
>Then you heard a growl.
>You turned and looked straight into the nosie of a Woof-Woof Munsta!
>It must have been hungry, as you knew that nummies were hard to find.
>And Woof-Woof Munstas didn't eat berries or grassies.
>Woof-Woof Munstas ate things like Fluffies!
>You instantly made bad peepees and screamed.
>"AHHHH! NU EAT BABBEH WOOF-WOOF MUNSTA! AHHH!"
>And you ran.
>Since you were so small, you couldn't run fast and the white stuff was helping.
>You could feel the Woof-Woof Munsta's breath on your back.
>You were sure that you were going to take long sleepies and see Mama and bruddas and sissies again, when suddenly...
>"Wun!" a familiar voice said.
>It was Daddy!
>He must have followed you!
>"Daddeh!" you cried "Hewp!"
>"Wun! Go bak ta hewd!"
>But you couldn't, you just made more scaredy peepees and looked on as Daddy looked right at the Woof-Woof Munsta.
>Daddy stood up tall and puffed out his cheeks.
>He looked tough, strong, and brave.
>Braver than you've ever seen him.
>"Go 'way Munsta!" he barked "Nu huwt Daddeh's Babbeh!"
>The Munsta just growled.
>"Den figh'!" Daddy said and he charged forward.
>It was over before it even started.
>The Munsta grabbed Daddy with it's teeth.
>You could see boo-boo juice run down his back.
>It shook Daddy all around, bits of Daddy's fluff falling out and boo-boo juice spreading across the white stuff.
>Then it was over.
>A howl was heard and the Woof-Woof Munsta ran away, dropping Daddy to the ground.
>You may have cried the entire time, but Daddy never shed a tear.
>His back was a mess.
>All his fluff was missing from back there and there were teeth marks with lots of boo-boo juice coming out of it.
>"D-Daddeh?" you said as you went up to him.
>"Iz...'k'..." he said, weakly smiling and spitting out some more boo-boo juice "Daddeh tak cawe o' munsta. Munsta nu huwt Babbeh."
>"Daddeh!" you cried and you snuggled up with him.
>"Dun wowwy..." he said "Yu stiww gud Fwuffy. Yu 'memba wha...Daddeh towd yu..."
>His breathing was getting heavy.
>"Nu! Dun go Daddeh! Babbeh wuv yu!"
>He still smiled.
>"Iz...'k'...yu nu tak wong sweepies. Yu big Fwuffy nao...dun nee' Daddeh nu mo'. Be gud Fwuffy. 'Memba...'memba what Daddeh teww yu..."
>And then Daddy took long sleepies.
>You stayed and snuggled with him for you don't know how long.
>The sky ball was almost out of the sky before the rest of the herd found you.
>One of the mamas took you and hugged you, as the Toughies took Daddy's body.
>They went to your burrow and took the berries out.
>Placing Daddy's body there, they covered it in white stuff.
>"Iz time ta mov'." one of the Toughies, or should you say the new Smarty said "Dere munstas hewe. Owd Smawty did gud, bu' nao...iz time ta go."
>You just sat and looked at your burrow where the white stuff now covered Daddy.
>The Toughie just looked down at you.
>"Bu' no' yet. Wai' tiww wakeytimez."
>And they walked off to leave you to cry at where they had buried your Daddy.
>After wakeytimes, the herd moved again.
>You stuck close to one of the mamas, but you still never forgot your Daddy.
>The new Smarty was one that your Daddy really liked, so he made sure to run things like your Daddy had.
>A lot of Fluffies took long sleepies because of the cold times, but more made it to green times.
>You really were a big Fluffy when that happened.
>You managed to find yourself a special friend within the herd and you had babies with her.
>You did your best to raise them like your Daddy had raised you.
>And they became big Fluffies and had babies themselves, they carried on the teachings.
>Now, it's cold times once more.
>You're ready.
>You've got your own herd, mostly made up of your family, as you have your babies and their babies and their babies' babies.
>You remember what your Daddy taught you and you're determined to make it through this cold times.
>However...
>"Miss yu Daddeh." you say.
>Even after all this time, you still wish that he was here.

END
(Just something for Takenoko's challenge. Be sure to listen to the songs Father and Hymn of the Immortal Warriors both by Manowar while reading.)